A 1,400 calorie diet provides enough food to help you feel full while allowing most active adults to lose weight at a slow and steady rate. The key to this diet is watching your portions of starches, monitoring your fat intake and drinking plenty of low-calorie fluids.
Effects
Most individuals who follow a 1,400 calorie diet are attempting to lose weight. It takes a caloric deficit of 500 calories per day to lose one pound per week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Thus, if you eat 1,400 calories and you burn the standard 2,000 calories per day, you should see your body weight decrease by roughly one pound each week.
Basics
Like any other healthy eating plan, the 1,400 calorie diet includes a variety of foods to give your body all the essential nutrients it needs without having to supplement with expensive vitamins and minerals. Some people will eat their 1,400 calories over the course of three meals and a few snacks, while others will simply eat three meals. You do not want to eat less than three times per day, because that will cause a decrease in your metabolism.
Carbohydrates
The U. S. Dietary Reference Intake Summary states that no adult should consume less than 100 g of carbohydrate in one day, thus the 1,400 calorie diet should have at least this many carbohydrates. Most 1,400 calorie meal plans contain 45 to 60 g of carbohydrates per meal, and this standard amount is enough to keep your energy levels high. Be careful to watch your portion sizes on carbohydrate-containing foods, because it's easy to go overboard on foods like potatoes, rice and pasta.
Fats
As recommended by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the 1,400 calorie diet should contain about 20 to 35 percent of calories from fat. This means that the 1,400 calorie diet should include 31 to 54 g of fat per day. Make sure that your fat comes primarily from healthy sources like nuts, seeds and vegetable oils.
Sample Menu
The following menu shows what you could eat when following a 1,400 calorie diet:
Breakfast: 1 cup cooked oatmeal with 3/4 cup blueberries and 1/3 oz. almond slivers
Lunch: 3 cups spinach and romaine lettuce, tossed with 4 oz. lean chicken, 1 oz. walnuts, 2 tbsp. dried cranberries and balsamic vinegar for dressing; a small apple with 4 oz. of light vanilla yogurt
Dinner: 4 oz. grilled salmon served with 1 cup steam broccoli, a small ear of corn on the cob and a whole wheat dinner roll with 1 tbsp. light margarine
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